英地方議會規定上班吸菸須打卡

Workers at a district council in eastern England must now clock off and back on if they take a cigarette break.

Staff at Breckland Council in the eastern English county of Norfolk will no longer be paid for time spent smoking after proposals agreed earlier this year came into force on Monday.

Council leader William Nunn said the policy formalized an agreement made in consultation with staff.

"Our flexible working system allows smokers to take smoking breaks without affecting the amount of time spent working and this brings fairness for all," Nunn said in a statement e-mailed toreporters on Monday.

Breckland Council said staff have viewed the new smoking breaks policy positively, although there has been no one employed to make certain it was enforced.

Smokers' lobby group Forest said everyone was entitled to a break during work and described the plan as "tyrannical," the BBC reported.

"Many smokers believe having the occasional cigarette allows them to refocus," a Forest spokesman told the BBC.

Staff work at the council to a "flexitime system" which means they take breaks at different times and if they go out to buy a sandwich they clock in and out by swiping their cards.

The new smoking policy is permanent but will be reviewed in six months, the council said.

英格蘭東部一家地方議會日前規定，工作人員若想出去抽根菸休息一下必須打卡。

今後，英國東部諾福克郡布雷克蘭地方議會的工作人員吸菸所花時間將不計薪酬。該提議於今年早些時候獲得通過，並於本週一生效。

議長威廉•納恩稱，該政策是與工作人員協商後達成的。

納恩在本週一發給記者的一份電子郵件聲明中說：“我們的彈性工作制允許菸民吸菸小憩一會兒，但不能影響工作時間總量，這樣對所有人才是公平的。”

布雷克蘭地方議會表示，儘管還沒人能確定這一政策得以執行，但大家都對吸菸新政持積極態度。

據英國廣播公司報道，菸民遊說團體“森林”稱，所有人都有權在工作中小憩，這一計劃非常“殘暴”。

該組織一名發言人在接受英國廣播公司採訪時說：“許多菸民認爲偶爾吞雲吐霧能讓自己再次集中精力工作。”

該地方議會實行“彈性工作制”，工作人員可以在不同時間段休息。如果他們出去買三明治，就必須刷卡登記。

地方議會表示吸菸新政長期有效，但將在6個月內複審。

Vocabulary:

swipe the card: 刷卡